My Favorite Planner: A Product Review

I want to show you my new favorite calendar/planner, because it would make an awesome gift for any woman who likes art, watercolors, birds, or nature.  I bought it at a museum gift shop this summer, but I've only recently started to use it, and I love it!  It is drawn and painted by the wonderful  Geninne Zlatkis.  The covers are flexible and there is an elastic band closure.  This is the front, decorated with her signature birds:

This is the inside front cover.  I LOVE Geninne's birds!

 There are undated pages like this for weekly planning; you can start any time of year--just write in the dates.

Then there are 13 of these monthly pages, which are also undated, so you can start whenever you want to.  I started mine in November!

The calendar pages are interspersed with blank note pages, and full-page artwork.  So beautiful!

 

This is the inside of the back cover, which has a little pocket.

Do yourself a favor and click on Geninne's name (above) to visit her blog.  She posts beautiful pictures and artwork every day; she is a constant source of  inspiration to me.

I love this planner so much that I just ordered two more on Amazon! (They call it "Avian Friends Pocket Planner" if you are looking for it there.)  I am using mine to plan out my blog posts; the small size is just right for that (just 4 1/2" x 5 3/4"), and the pretty cover makes it easy to find amongst all the other "stuff" near my computer.

And the Winners Are...

(UPDATED Dec. 13, 2011)
It's time to announce the three winners of a pair of my Christmas ornament hearts!

Using a True Random Number Generator that I found online, I chose the three winners (the number corresponds to the order in which the comments were posted).  There were 51 comments; here are the three numbers that were chosen:

Winner Number One:
True Random Number Generator Min: Max:   Result: 8

Winner Number Two:
True Random Number Generator Min: Max:   Result: 18

Winner Number Three:
True Random Number Generator Min: Max:   Result: 44


#8 is Margaret (macky5331)

#18 is Gatearte in Barcelona--please contact me with your mailing address (leslieandersen4@gmail.com)
#44 is Elaine Akers

A great big THANK YOU to everyone who left a comment; I enjoyed reading them all, and I am always happy to be able to share what I make with readers!  I will have more giveaways in the future, and in the meantime, I will continue to share crafty ideas and tutorials with you (there's a super-cute scrappy braided bracelet tutorial coming up next week--don't miss it!)

Helping

A few Sundays ago in church, we heard one of my favorite Bible passages from the Book of Proverbs, about a virtuous wife.  This part really speaks to me:

"She obtains wool and flax and works with loving hands.  She puts her hands to the distaff, and her fingers ply the spindle.  She reaches out her hands to the poor, and extends her arms to the needy..."

I personally don't know what a distaff is, and I don't use a spindle; but I do sew things every day and I do work with loving hands, so I feel like a modern-day version of the virtuous wife.  But the last line bugged me, because it's been a while since I could say that I have reached out to the poor and needy.

On Monday, as on most Mondays, I drive my daughter back to college, 45 minutes away in Richmond, Virginia.  When we get off the highway in Richmond, there are 5 or 6 stoplights to go through before we reach her dorm; and at every stoplight, there is a different rough-looking man, holding a cardboard sign that says something like "Hungry, please help".  If we happen to be near the front of the line at the stoplight, the man walks slowly past our car, looking right at us, holding his sign prominently.  I've always looked straight ahead, ignoring them as much as possible, and feeling very uncomfortable.

But not any more!!  I've decided to do something for them.  Apparently, the standard thing to do is to wave a dollar out your car window, and the man will come over and get it (I saw that happen this week). 

When I got home, I pulled out the cash box that I haven't touched since I stopped doing craft shows a couple of years ago, and lookie what I found:

MONEY MONEY MONEY!!!!!! 
Those are all the one-dollar bills I had for making change in my craft booth.  I had no idea I had so much money sitting around--it looks like about $100 in ones.

So here's my plan:  I want to give each person I encounter $2, plus a snack (they must get hungry and thirsty standing there for hours on end); I will bag it up like this:

I'm thinking of adding a hand-made card like the one next to the baggie; but I'm not sure what to write on it.  "Have a nice day"?  "Don't worry be happy"?  Hmmm.  I don't want to sound like a dork, or worse, insensitive or condescending.  What would you write on the card?  Help me out with your comment, below.  Thanks.

Etsy Shop Review: Inspire Lovely

I have to show you the order I received this week from an Etsy shop called Inspire Lovely.  It was indeed a lovely package, starting with the address label, which starts out "To The Lovely Leslie Andersen"!  How sweet!

I was floored when I removed the packet from the envelope--look how Debee wrapped it! A big piece of fun polka dot tissue paper, a paper doily, and her card, all wrapped up with black and white baker's twine.  I've recently become aware of baker's twine as a crafting item, and I bought a big roll of red and white twine, but I haven't thought of a way to use it yet.  This is getting my mental wheels turning.

When I unwrapped everything, the wrapping was bigger than my order!  I will be able to use the tissue paper, doily, and twine again.

This is what I ordered:  three yards of black and white polka dot ribbon, and a small box of white sequins.  The wrappings were color-coordinated to my purchase! 

Inspire Lovely's shop announcement says it is:  "A place where you can find lovely and inspiring * paper * handmade crochet * packaging * art* items. I share exclusively designed items for you to enjoy. I hope you love my little creations as much as I loved making them :)" 

The price on the ribbon was great (that's what I went there for--the sequins were an impulse buy!)--it was just $1.75 for 3 yards.  I will be going back for more.  Thank you Debee, for sharing your lovely approach to life with us.

Mailing the "Hope" Hearts--UPDATED

UPDATE:  Amanda has received the hearts and she was very deeply touched by our gesture of support.  Read her post on Craftster to get her reaction and to read the many comments from other readers who have been moved by her story.

I am happy to give you another update on my project to send "hope" hearts to Amanda, who could use some support as she supports her husband through his cancer treatments (you can read more about this in my other posts HERE and HERE and HERE).

I have received hearts from two more lovely crafters.  First, from Diane, these two beautiful hearts made from a damaged antique quilt.  I love the worn look of the old quilt, and the modern letters stamping out the word "hope" is just great!  Thank you, Diane!

These two pretty hearts are from Shari.  The blue heart is made from several different fabrics; the leopard heart is hand-stitched around the edges.  Both feature hand-embroidery of the word "hope".  They are wonderful, thank you Shari!

Here are all the hearts together.  They look awesome!  I am going to pack them up tonight and mail them in the morning. They will be a great addition to the hearts she received in the Jar of Hearts swap on Craftster.  I know Amanda will be smiling from ear to ear when she opens the package, and it is my hope that this unexpected show of support will be something  she looks back on as a bright spot in the midst of a very dark time in her life.

A great big THANK YOU to everyone who sent hearts for Amanda--Susan, Kim, Diane and Shari.  You ladies ROCK!

Christmas Giveaway!

UPDATE:  This giveaway is now closed, and winners have been chosen!  Click HERE to see who won.

It's Christmas time again--I LOVE Christmas!!  I just made a whole bunch of these heart-shaped ornaments; there are several different colors and fabric combinations, and each one has a word in the center that is meaningful at Christmas.  They measure 3 1/2" in width.  They are puffy and light, and each one has a ribbon loop for hanging on a tree; it would also be cute to tie one onto a wrapped present as an "extra".

Since Christmas is all about giving, I want to give three of you a pair of  these heart ornaments! (Actually, I want to give ALL of you an ornament--but my resources are limited--so I can only commit to three!)

If you would like to be entered in the drawing to win a pair of hearts, just:

1.  Leave a comment below.  If you have a color or word preference (as seen in the pictures), mention it in case you are a winner.
2.  Wait patiently.  I will leave this open for one week, and choose three random winners next Saturday, December 3rd.  (Maybe you'll be lucky and only three people will comment...!)
3.  Check back here in a week to see if you are a winner.  The winners will need to contact me, so be sure to check back!
4.  I will mail the hearts to the winners sometime during the week of Dec. 5-10.

--This giveaway is open to ALL, even those who have previously won something from me!
--If you have had trouble leaving a comment before, try again, because I've changed some settings; you should be able to post a comment now.

Happy Thanksgiving 2011

Thank you for the world so sweet,
Thank you for the food we eat,
Thank you for the birds that sing,
Thank you God for everything.

                          St. Bede Catholic Church in Williamsburg, VA:  my spiritual home.